By Nicole McLeod
“Stories of Grace”
Our summer Bible study series is based upon Pastor Chuck Smith’s classic book, “Why Grace Changes Everything.” We encourage you to read the book with us this summer and learn more about how God’s grace changes everything, and how it changes us! Today we will look at some of the highlights from chapters 3 and 4.
Chapter 3 is titled, “No favorites in the kingdom” and as Pastor Chuck explains, God calls “ordinary people”, like us by grace to fulfill His “extraordinary” and divine purposes. It is Christ in us, and God’s amazing gift of grace that makes each one of us ‘extraordinary’!
Pastor Chuck asked this question, “Have you ever noticed how oftentimes the very people we have classified as ‘impossible to save’, have been marked by God as the next converts?”
First example is Saul’s conversion:
We meet Saul at the very end Acts chapter 7, where he is approving of the stoning of Steven, who was stoned for his faith in Jesus Christ. He was the first martyr of the early church. And before his death, Stephen prays for his executioners, asking God to forgive their sin. And Saul was in that crowd.
Then in Acts 8:1-3 we read, “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.2Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.3ButSaul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”
In spite of Steven’s amazing witness and his example of Christ to him, Saul’s mission of persecution against the followers of Christ, heated up even more, involving death, sorrow, persecution and ravaging of churches and believing families. And it wasn’t enough…
Acts 9:1-2 “But Saul,stillbreathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went tothe high priest2and asked him for lettersto the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging tothe Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Saul pursued every angle to persecute the men and women who belonged to Christ, but read on as his story is about to change…
Acts 9:3-8“Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.4And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him,“Saul, Saul, why are you persecutingme?”And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said,“I am Jesus,whom you are persecuting.6Butrise and enter the city, and you will be toldwhat you are to do.”7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,hearing the voice but seeing no one.8Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened,he saw nothing. So, they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.”
The glorified Lord Jesus met Saul with a light from heaven that shone around him. He called Saul by name and asked him why he was persecuting Him/Jesus. Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?”, and Jesus told him directly, “I am Jesus,whom you are persecuting.”That moment of truth must have but Saul to the core! Immediately, Jesus began to direct him into his new mission, then into a time of preparation for his ministry to carry the gospel of God’s grace to the entire world as Paul the Apostle and servant of Jesus Christ.
The first point Pastor Chuck makes is that “God is a specialist in taking the unlikeliest of candidates and turning them into trophies of His grace.” He is able by grace to make us “new creations” in Christ and examples to others of what God’s grace can do.
Paul wrote this in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2: Eph 2:4-10 “ ButGod, beingrich in mercy,because of the great love with which he loved us,evenwhen we were dead in our trespasses,made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him andseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurableriches of his grace inkindness toward us in Christ Jesus.Forby grace, you have been savedthrough faith. And this isnot your own doing;it is the gift of God, not a result of works,so that no one may boast.Forwe are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesusfor good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
In these verses, the converted Paul declares that salvation is by grace, through faith, it is the gift of God, not something a person earns. God brings us from death to life spiritually and has joined us together with Christ… as Paul himself had experienced, and it is for God’s glory. As he wrote, “ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace inkindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”This is amazing grace and all glory to God!
Pastor Chuck makes a second point, that God has special purposes for each one of us that He prepares us for it by grace, (Eph. 2:10). He shows how God had been preparing Saul from birth for his ministry to carry the gospel of grace to Jews and Gentiles.
Here is a summary of this preparation. Saul grew up in Tarsus, a Greek culture, and that prepared Paul to know how to communicate God’s truths to Gentiles. His Roman citizenship was also part of God’s plan and would help him in his ministry. He was thoroughly Jewish and well educated in Hebrew culture and tradition under one of the great Jewish scholars of his day, Gamaliel, helping him mastering the teachings in the Talmud and Hebrew scriptures. He grew to be zealous for the law of God and sought to be righteous by keeping it to the best of his ability. Saul, spent much of his life as a Pharisee, a member of a strict legalistic Jewish sect that strongly opposed Jesus, so he would also have insight into those who oppose Christ. When the day finally came for God to reveal Christ to Saul on that road to Damascus, he embraced the new righteousness given to Him by grace, through faith in Christ. How amazing that God chose Paul to preach “the gospel of grace”, because if anyone had tried to be righteous by the law, it had been him.
God has plans and purposes for our lives as well. We also go through times of preparation for the ministries God has for us. That time may be long or short, but God’s grace is at work even if it seems long.
My story: When I look back on my life, it looks like steppingstones through the seasons of life, and the ups and downs, that God has used to help me know Him better, cling to Him more, change me, and by grace give gifts to enable me to serve in various ways as various times. It was years before I became a wife and mother, that God gave me an opportunity to go on the mission field for 6 months, and when I returned, He opened the way for me to take a “Perspectives” missions class at the US Center for World Missions. He then opened the door for me to work for Pastor Chuck, before being led to work for six years at the Jesus Film Project. It was an amazing time, and amazing journey, and all of grace, for looking back, I was still a young Christian in that season with a big heart for missions and desire to serve the Lord, but not a lot of experience. Much of it was actually preparation, and I very blessed to be involved with serving alongside of some very mature believers who were examples to me of perseverance and dedication to the Lord. It was in that time that God led me to meet my husband Robert, and a year later, we began married life and had our three children. That blessing too was all of God’s grace. And over these last 30 years, has blessed and enabled us to serve the Lord in the church, in separate ministries, but with one heart to love and serve Christ let His love and grace be known to others. Amazing grace for sure!
I share my story, because God has His divine timetable for his purposes. His ways and plans for us may look very different than we expect, and sometimes we may grow discouraged or weary, or feel that things are going too slowly, especially in those seasons with young children and hard-working husbands out of the home. We are pressed and tried, and, in that season, we learn to forge a deeply personal relationship with the Lord. We must exercise our faith, and trust God’s grace, and cling to encouraging verses like, Phil. 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who begana good work in youwill bring it to completion atthe day of Jesus Christ.”I encourage every young mom to find a few verses of scripture to put around her home to remind her God is with her every moment, not to judge her, but to give her grace for her essential yet challenging ministry of raising the next generation for God’s glory.
In Acts 20:24, we read a verse that encapsulates Paul’s passion, his life purpose and ministry. Maybe you have a “life verse”, this one may have been Paul’s. In these few words, he expressed his dedication to the gospel, and his willingness to endure hardship to share the message of God's grace. At this time, he was heading to Jerusalem, knowing full well it was a dangerous place to go. It seems the more hard pressed that Paul was by trials; the more Christ was magnified in his life. And he said,
20:24 “ But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. ” NKJV
He says these powerful words, “ none of these things move me” – the hardships, threats upon his life, challenges of spiritual warfare, opposition in the spiritual world and physical world. Can you imagine? It is hard for us to picture how much suffering and hardship Paul endured for the Lord, even though we can read some of the accounts in scripture. I think of the little things that discourage me and make me want to quit, and I am ashamed of how small those trials are in comparison with what many believers around the world are up against today. Paul is my example, and so are the Christians worldwide who endure great loss and suffering for the sake of the gospel. May God give us grace and courage to always persevere and stand for Him.
None of those things were going to stop him from pursuing the purpose for which he had been called by God. His passion was to tell people the gospel of the grace of God. He knew God’s grace was real, that God loved him and was with him. He was finishing his race with joy, and sharing God’s grace with others was his passion and purpose. Paul had been an unlikely convert in the eyes of the early church, but in God’s eyes, he was the one chosen to carry the gospel of Grace to the entire world, in particular to the Gentiles. God continues to use his life and letters to bring the gospel of grace to people all over the world today.
Chapter 4 is called “A Portrait of Grace” and it is about Abraham in the Old Testament and how he is also a story of God’s amazing grace in the Old Testament. He is called the ‘Father of the faithful’, but when you look at his story, you can see that he was an unlikely convert too. While dwelling in a pagan land, God called him, by grace, to become the Father of all who would come to believe in God’s great plan of redemption. We find this story in Genesis 12:1-5.
Gen. 12:1-5 “NowtheLordsaidto Abram, “Go from your countryand your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, andin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”4So Abram went, as theLordhad told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed fromHaran.And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
These verses are monumental, and include the calling of Abraham, and the blessing and promise of God upon him and his descendants. My point is that it was by grace, God chose him and called him to go into the land He promised to him and his descendants. Gen. 15:6tells us, “And hebelieved in theLord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Abram believed God, and obeyed God and stepped out in faith to go where God called him to go. So, we see that Abraham’s faith was demonstrated by his actions. He was righteous because he believed, but true faith leads to faithful actions. He is an example to us of living in grace and walking in obedience to the Word of the Lord and trusting God, because like Abraham, we live for Christ so imperfectly, learning as we go on our way how much daily grace, we need for all of our errors and struggles and personal battles.
Pastor chuck wrote “When the apostle Paul wanted to bolster his case for righteousness by grace through faith, he pointed his readers back to Abraham. He said the story of Abraham contained an allegory that could make his point clear.” (p.65)
I encourage you to read through this part of chapter 4 again, as this allegory is very deep and needs thought and consideration to grasp what Paul is saying about this. Pastor Chuck does a great job of making it more understandable, as Paul can be hard to understand at times.
In Galatians 4, Paul drawing from the Genesis 15 story, explains that when Abraham and Sarah (who were advanced in years) despaired of seeing God’s promise of a son fulfilled, they turned to their own efforts to have a son through their slave Hagar. This choice brought heartache and frustration, and the world today still experiences the consequences and conflicts this choice brought about. The son was Ismael. He was a product of “the flesh” and is a type of those seeking to be blessed by human works. Issac on the other hand was the child of “the promise” of God, representing those who will inherit God’s blessing through faith.
Pastor Chuck ends chapter 4 this“The gospel of grace was preached long ago in Abraham. His life is a glorious picture of what grace is and does. It is far more beautiful than any painting hanging in the louvre, Prado or Met museums of art. It is a stunning portrait of God’s love for a sinner who places his/her complete trust in God, and the best thing about the picture is that we are right there in the background, with the word “blessed” emblazoned on our foreheads”, (p.74)
In closing, I want us to consider how God’s grace is at the center of our own Christian life. Each one of us has a unique grace story. Have you ever written yours down? Have you ever looked back upon your life to see the steppingstones of God’s preparation that have led you to the ministry, or ministries you have today?
When I worked at the Jesus Film Project in the early 90’s, one of the exercises we were required to do was to write down our personal story of God’s redeeming grace, including how we heard the gospel, and received Christ, were eventually led into the ministry God had for us. We had to write a 15-minute version, and a 3-minute version to share. It was a great exercise, and I encourage you to try to do this. And when you do, I pray God will give you opportunity to share it.
Relating our own experience of God’s grace reaches people’s hearts in a powerful way. How many of you come to Testify which is our monthly night of testimonies? It’s powerful how Jesus reveals Himself to others through our personal story, and it’s all to the glory of God. If you have never done this, here are a few ideas to help you get started.
1.You can begin with a sentence about why you turned to follow Jesus. i.e. "My life used to be filled with a sense of emptiness…” or "Before I met Jesus, my life was...".
2. Share a sentence or two about hearing the gospel or the truth about Jesus. Include how you came to faith or what led to your conversion. i.e. "I was invited to church for the first time at age 26, and though I didn’t understand, I kept coming back, and one day I came to see that Jesus is the answer...".
3. Share any positive changes and blessings that have come into your life since you accepted Christ. i.e. "Since I came to know Jesus, my life has been filled with purpose, peace, a sense of belonging and God’s love...".
4. Encourage the person you are sharing with to also look to Christ…i.e. "I hope my story inspires you to look to Christ too…”
It’s important to keep it personal and concise, and not too many details. Keep Christ central, and share what He has done for you, and that it is all by grace. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and use you when you share, and pray for sensitivity, as both speaking and listening are important. Focus on the gospel, and how your life has been changed and the blessings you have received.
Lord thank you for your amazing love and grace that you have given us. You really are working all things together for the good for all of us who are living in you love and grace in Christ. Help us, I pray, to write down and share our stories of grace with others and bless us as we do. We ask in Jesus name, amen.